摘要：We motivate and visualize problems and methods for packing a set of objects into a given container, in particular a set of {different-size} circles or squares into a square or circular container. Questions of this type have attracted a considerable amount of attention and are known to be notoriously hard. We focus on a particularly simple criterion for deciding whether a set can be packed: comparing the total area A of all objects to the area C of the container. The critical packing density delta^* is the largest value A/C for which any set of area A can be packed into a container of area C. We describe algorithms that establish the critical density of squares in a square (delta^*=0.5), of circles in a square (delta^*=0.5390 ...), regular octagons in a square (delta^*=0.5685 ...), and circles in a circle (delta^*=0.5).
